[MassHistPres] Renaming your historical society

[Elizabeth Randall]

All this talk about "Hysterical Commissions" reminds me of the time when I
used to work at Harvard University as a Project Manager specializing in
preservation work on some amazing projects, which I will always be thankful
for.  One time we did a dual interview with two contractors that were vying
for projects for two dormitory renovations in Harvard Yard.  One of the
contractor presenters, who was extremely "slick" ( and I will leave the
description at that!) mentioned the onerous task of having to deal with a
"Hysterical Commission." I was able to tell him that the Project Manager
that would be working on the other project proudly served on the Bay
Village *Historical *Commission and that I had been honored to be asked to
serve on the Beacon Hill *Historical* Commission but had to decline because
we were moving out of the city at that point.  Needless to say his company
did not get either job!

An extremely satisfying moment!

- Elizabeth Randall

On Thu, May 11, 2023 at 3:22 PM Dennis De Witt via MassHistPres <
masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:

> Re “Hysterical” — when Brookline merged its commissions in the early ‘80s,
> we chose to call the combined commission the Preservation Commission,
> largely to deny opponents the use of “Hysterical Commission.”  (It was a
> bore and a distraction.)
>
> Dennis De Witt
> Brookline
>
> On May 10, 2023, at 10:11 PM, cvwtc--- via MassHistPres <
> masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:
>
> Actually, the Beverly Historical Society renamed themselves Historic
> Beverly a few years ago for that very reason.  So is this a trend?  I can
> only speak for what I have seen locally.
>
> Many years ago when I used to volunteer at that organization, we had a
> guest speaker who warned of declining membership and visitors to house
> museums because people's tastes have changed so for some organizations "it
> is broke" and "It needs to be fixed."  I'm not sure a name change will be
> the cure if nothing else changes within the organization
>
> Also, how many have you heard the insulting remark "hysterical society"
> directed at people who have an interest in preservation?  In theory, a name
> change gets an organization away from that.
>
>  Matt Pujo
>
> Beverly, MA
>
>
>
>
>
> On 05/08/2023 11:33 PM David Temple via MassHistPres <
> masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:
>
>
> There's been a trend away from the term "historical society" because it
> seems to connote old and fusty, not a lively, happening place.
>
> If you changed your name to "X History Center"  or "Historic X"  or
> something similar - do you think the change actually accomplished
> anything?  Did making the change create any problems?
>
> In your reply, please include my original message.
>
> David F. Temple
> President, Medfield Historical Society
> https://medfieldhistoricalsociety.org/
> Co-Chair, Medfield Historical Commission
> 300 South Street
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SAMUEL R BLAIR via MassHistPres <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
> To: David Temple <davidftemple at yahoo.com>; David Temple via MassHistPres <
> masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
> Sent: Wed, May 10, 2023 9:13 am
> Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Renaming your historical society
>
> I've seen no such trend. Adding "X" means nothing and you're still stuck
> with "History", like it or not.
>
> Sam Blair
> Fitchburg Historical Commission (retired)
>
> On 05/08/2023 11:33 PM David Temple via MassHistPres <
> masshistpres at cs.umb.edu> wrote:
>
>
> There's been a trend away from the term "historical society" because it
> seems to connote old and fusty, not a lively, happening place.
>
> If you changed your name to "X History Center"  or "Historic X"  or
> something similar - do you think the change actually accomplished
> anything?  Did making the change create any problems?
>
> In your reply, please include my original message.
>
> David F. Temple
> President, Medfield Historical Society
> https://medfieldhistoricalsociety.org/
> Co-Chair, Medfield Historical Commission
> 300 South Street
> Medfield, MA 02052
> H-508-359-2915 M-508-613-6606
> _______________________________________________
> MassHistPres mailing list
> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
> https://mailman.cs.umb.edu/listinfo/masshistpres
>
> _______________________________________________
> MassHistPres mailing list
> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
> https://mailman.cs.umb.edu/listinfo/masshistpres
> _______________________________________________
> MassHistPres mailing list
> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
> https://mailman.cs.umb.edu/listinfo/masshistpres
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> MassHistPres mailing list
> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
> https://mailman.cs.umb.edu/listinfo/masshistpres
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/pipermail/masshistpres/attachments/20230511/0e9edd7f/attachment.html>